The Water Quality Control and Analysis Laboratory (LACQE) of the Office National de l’Eau Potable (Drinking Water National Board) is a supporting tool for decision making and the strategic organization in the drinking water supply sector in Côte d’Ivoire. It has been operating for more than two (02) years now. The initial work cost 1.7 billion Francs CFA, cofinanced by the Water Development Fund of the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency). The mission of this laboratory is to control the quality of the water resources produced and intended for supplying populations throughout the country.

The inaugural ceremony of this laboratory took place on Thursday, May 4, 2017 in the presence of the Ivorian Minister in charge of Economic Infrastructures, Mr Amedé Kouakou and the Ambassador of the Republic of France in Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Georges Serre. The building equipped with state-of-the-art equipment is located in the district of Cocody 7eme tranche (7th section) (a district of Abidjan, the economic capital city), and is built on a surface of 1,200 m2 for a total used space of 730 m2. According to the ONEP Managing Director, Berté Ibrahima, this laboratory has an operational capacity of 4,000 water samples per annum, with a team of 27 staff members, including any kind of qualifications. The Water Quality Control and Analysis Laboratory of the ONEP is equipped with both microbiology and physic-chemistry units.

The LACQE of the ONEP is full of ambitions, which require an investment of almost 350 million FCFA, including a provision for heavy metal detection equipment in the water intended for consumption and an approach for the certification of the laboratory to the ISO 17025 standard, “a requirement for a laboratory like ours'', said Dr Claon Stephan, Director of the Water Quality Control and Analysis Laboratory (LACQE) of the ONEP.